TES 4 Oblivion Struggling to run perfect

[Matty85uk]

Hi, my pc is currently struggling to run oblivion perfect, but my specs are above the recommended requirments by quite abit, they are: CPU AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.02 GHZ, RAM DDR2 2048MB, GPU NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, on XP Home SP2, Yet my porfomance when fighting ingame is somtimes sloppy, and now the graphics are beging to get jaged edges, even when set to full, when i first bought the pc 8 months ago, it ran perfectly, also i dont even have my 250GB hard drive half full, i rarely download, and defrag every 2 months, and am unsure of how to get my pc to play oblivion perfectly again, can anyone help??

 

[spittledip]

The 8600GT is your problem if anything. I am not sure how you got it to play well on that GPU to begin with. Your OS might be bogged down too with processes running in the background. Also, your GPU might be covered with dust and overheating. Do you clean out your case at all?

 

[katank]

Yep, your video card is weak. Upgrade that first. There was a 9600GSO for 36 bucks recently.

Also consider getting more RAM. Adding another 2 gigs costs ~$20-25.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: katank
Yep, your video card is weak. Upgrade that first. There was a 9600GSO for 36 bucks recently.

Also consider getting more RAM. Adding another 2 gigs costs ~$20-25.

The video card is definitely the weak link in his system, but I don't think adding another 2GB of RAM is going to make much difference, especially in Windows XP.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Get Streamline for Oblivion. It will scale the settings automatically to get an fps in the range you specify.

 

[Modular]

Another vote for video card.

 

[HeXploiT]

Pick up an 8800gts 640mb here or on ebay for $90-$100 shipped.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: Matty85uk
Hi, my pc is currently struggling to run oblivion perfect, but my specs are above the recommended requirments by quite abit, they are: CPU AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.02 GHZ, RAM DDR2 2048MB, GPU NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, on XP Home SP2, Yet my porfomance when fighting ingame is somtimes sloppy, and now the graphics are beging to get jaged edges, even when set to full, when i first bought the pc 8 months ago, it ran perfectly, also i dont even have my 250GB hard drive half full, i rarely download, and defrag every 2 months, and am unsure of how to get my pc to play oblivion perfectly again, can anyone help??

Welcome new guy!

First tip for posting on Anandtech: You need to communicate clearly, especially when asking for help. We come from a wide variety of backrounds and not all of us are familiar with your manner of speaking or writing. Some of us come from countries outside the US and those folks learned proper english as opposed to what the average American speaks.

What do you mean by "running perfectly"? No computer game runs perfectly. They all have some issues. Some are much better than others and you may never find any issues. Oblivion is full of bugs and you will never get it to run perfectly.
What do you mean by "sloppy"? Do you mean the framerates get so low you can't even engage in combat? If so I have to go with my buddies here and recommend you upgrade your video card. A Geforce 8600 is not enough to get consistantly good performance in Oblivion.
Your CPU and RAM are more than good enough for the game. With Windows XP you won't be able to use 4 gigabytes of memory.

If you don't feel like spending money on a new video card, take the graphics settings down a bit. Run the game at 1024x768 with medium detail.
When you engage in combat you don't want to struggle with a choppy display.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Assuming that your system does not have any malware / bloatware starting at startup (and thus running in the background) that is slowing you down (to check, make a pass with my automatic virus removal script and then post a hijackthis log in the computer help forum), you likely need a new video card to increase your FPS as Oblivion is a fairly demanding game for a GPU like the 8600GT. Might I suggest an AMD Radeon HD4850 for $140? It will provide a MASSIVE increase in GPU power for you.